Wayland Baptist out-hit Lubbock Christian 15-13 on a hot and windy afternoon in Lubbock, but it is the numbers in the "runs" column that count the most and the top-ranked Chaparrals had the advantage there, defeating the Pioneers 14-11 in the second day of the 2009 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round.
The loss sends Wayland into the loser's bracket where they will take on fourth-seeded William Jewell on Thursday afternoon at 2:00. The winner of that game takes on LCU at 6 pm for a chance to advance to the NAIA World Series.
The Chaparrals took advantage of eight free passes on the afternoon, six by way of bases on balls, one on a hit batter, and one on an error. Seven of those extra baserunners ended up crossing home plate, and that was the deciding factor in the game, according to WBU head coach Brad Bass.
"I thought both teams played really well. It just seemed like every time we walked a batter the next guy would come up and hit a two-run homer. They also were able to get runs with two outs. I think except for the first inning, most of their scoring came after we had gotten two out."
The Pioneers got to LCU starting pitcher R.L. Eisenbach, a first team All-Conference selection, for 10 earned runs on 14 hits, but the junior southpaw struck out 12 WBU batters and issued only one walk in his 7-2/3 innings of work.
After taking the Pioneers down in order in the top of the first, the Chaps got three runs in their half of the frame. Jaime Armendariz led off with a walk and scored on the first of Tanner Rindels' two home runs. Another walk put Will Stramp, the NAIA's hitting leader, on board. Stramp stole second and then, with one out, scored on Rob Learned's single to right.
Franky Busani got an infield single to start the second, and then advanced to third on Todd Jeffress' double to the gap in left center. One out later, Pedro Gomez sent a pitch down the right field line for a triple. Michael Prell's fly ball to deep center plated Gomez and tied the game at 3.
WBU starting pitcher Todd Weldon retired the first two batters in the bottom of the inning, but a double by Armendariz was followed by the other Rindels long ball.
Busani made it 5-5 with a two run double to the wall in right center that scored Brett Cook and Ben Seymore, who was running for Pioneer catcher Brett Sheppard. Jeffress followed up with a single to left, but the Pioneers were unable to get Busani home from third.
Another two-out, two-run homer put the Chaps back up by two after three.
Wayland left two more runners on in the fourth, which proved costly because LCU plated four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take an 11-5 lead.
Busani singled to center to lead off the fifth and scored on Josh Lucas's double off the center field wall. Gomez brought in Lucas with a base hit up the middle then advanced to second on a single off the bat of Prell. A throwing error by the Chaparral catcher put Gomez at third with just one out, but once again the Pioneers left a runner in prime scoring position.
Relief pitcher Jason Kimzey retired the side in order in the bottom of the fifth, the only inning in which LCU failed to score.
The first time the Pioneers faced Eisenbach was two weeks ago at Hays Field. In that contest, Busani went 4-for-4 with two home runs off the LCU ace. The senior right fielder made it 8-for-8 with three homers in the sixth inning with a solo blast to left that made it 11-8.
A walk led to yet another Chaps run in their half of the sixth, and the Pioneers' lone error was responsible for the lone run scored in the seventh.
A great defensive play by Allen left a Chaparral runner stranded at third in the inning.
Sophomore Marcus Limon had a pinch hit single to lead off the eighth. Two outs later, Sheppard hit a towering homer over the light standard in left center field to put the Pioneers back to within three.
The Chaps' fourth long ball of the game made it 14-10 after eight. Bullpen ace Jakob Cunningham K'd the first two Wayland hitters in the top of the ninth, but Gomez, batting from the left side, pulled a pitch over the fence in right to give the Pioneers the final run of the game.
If the Pioneers can defeat both William Jewell and LCU on Thursday, an "if-necessary" game against the Chaps will be played at 1 pm on Friday.
